WRECK OF A WARSHIP. OVER SIXTY LIVES LOST. The Japanese cruiser Kwauping has been wrecked on a small island in the region of the Pescadors or Fishers Islands, in Chinese waters. The deck officers .and sixty of the crew were drowned.

The Golden West. The following interesting article ap peared in London ' Truth ' of tlie 21st ult.:— With tlie Kaffir Circus, the matket for West Australian gold shares is also fast recovering from last week's scare. 1 There never was any real fear of com-, pletc' collapse, at all events in the shares controlled by the strong groups of the ^W.esf 'Australian Goldfields, or of the 'West Australian Exploring and Fin ance Companies. After the panic set in on Saturday, November 9, one of tlie leading West Australian financiers had' ? * by Monday morning £200,000 cash placed at his disposal by friends and 'connections, for the purpose of acquiring -shares iii substantial companies at any thing like that day's level, but it was .: impossible to buy at anything near::-v^ those quotations, which were found to . : :; have., been quite nominal. Neither has ? - ^her6T3een in the West Australian sec tion such a breakdown as in South Africans, for the very good reason that there had not been the...

CURIOUS ACCIDENT. A sensational scene occurred at the Spencer-street railway goods yard this afternoon. A pair of horses attached to a lorry were frightened by a train, and bolted. They got over a wall and crashed into the street below, a dis tance of 20 feet, with the lorry on top of them. One of the horses was. killed. Several pedestrians narrowly escaped being injured. . : ,-...-? -. .. ; v. .

THE ARMENIAN DIFFICULTY. The report, of. the Captain of Jistown, an Arineniau town in Syria, has con firmed the statement that Izzet Bey, the Sultan's -favorite, has been tried for insisting on the scheme of reforms formulated by the Powers being car ried out.

VICTORIA. A PREACHER REVENGED; : Melbourne, December 29. A young man named Robert Connelly, residing at Burnley, fell asleep during the sermon at St. Paul's, Melbourne, on Christmas night, and was locked in till next morning.

THE VENEZUELA IMBROGLIO. PROPOSED TARIFF REVISION AND: LOAN. .-?-.-.. AN EX-AUSTllALIAN'S' VIEWS . ON TBE ATTITUDE OF THE IRISH. . . THE Dcfofe)ABY ct-M%IS&amp;foN/ SET ERE '.FINANCIAL CRISES. London, December 28. A Tariff _ Revision Bill has beca introduced into the United ^States J louse of Representatives providing ^ for an increase .annually of the revenue ^?of th^gountr£hyZ£AQO(Q00 dollars. Provision, has also been made for a charge of 6 per cent on each pound of: unwashed wool. . . ..'. ;?? The Committee of Ways and Means in the House of Representatives, hav ing considered President Cleveland's, message urging the need for taking . immediate measures to provide against Ihe depletion of the gold reserve of the country, recommend raising a loan by the issue of 3 per cent Government bonds, payable in gold and redeemable at the end of five years, also by the ^_-- issue of certificates against the gold reserve bearing interest at 3 per cent, the amount of the loan not to exceed...

DROWNING FATALITY. Two sisters, Ada McKay, aged 11 years, and Minnie McKay, aged 8 years, were drowned in the river at Almaree on Boxing Day. .The little ones were bathing, and it is supposed thst the younger one got out of her depth and dragged the other in. The father and mother of the children were almost frantic by their bereavement, caused by the fatality. An extraordinary romance of crime has just come to light a£ New York. A man named 'William' Barrett was arrested spine time ago in Massachusetts 'for '??attempted robbery and murder. It now appears that Barrett is the husband of a lady living in luxury near Fifth-avenue, who never sus pected that for twenty yeaps she had been associated with' a desperate habitual burglar. Several hundred thoiisand dollars; worth of property, secreted by Barrett, has * been already dug up in various places, and more discoveries, are expected. .. ?;-'.. ...-.- The Fermoy opal-fields, Queensland, have recently attracted several hundred diggers, ...

MORE MAGISTRATES RE QUIRED. There is only one Justice of the Peace in Coolgardie, and as a result .almost every case before the Court has to be remanded. The greatest inconveni ence is caused, and cases are piling up at an alarming rate. The Attorney General has beeu communicated with, but he has taken no notice of the request that he should deal with the matter. It is grossly unfair that men charged with offences should be confined day after day, till an extra J.P. turns up.

PERISHED FROM THIRST. ? i A SAD CASE. Another addition to the list of those who have perished from want of water, is reported. A short time since, two men named Jerry O'Condon and T. Cautwell were reported missingv They had sold a claim at Dun das, and started away for Coolgardie, intending to go to Sydney, to which place they belonged. Not putting in an appearance, the police were notified of the fact, and on the j 14th, Mounted-constable Brown and a black tracker went out to look for them They found the bodies of the unfortu nate men 60 miles west of the Sunday soak, and about ten miles from another soak, which their tracks showed that they had passed within 150 yards. The bodies were in a fearful state of decom position. They were found on Decem ber 24, and at onco buried.

A CASE OF DELIRIOUS TRE MENS. On Friday last, a teamster named John McKenna, while in a state of delirium tremens, wandered away from .'the 2-Mile condenser into the bush. Mounted-constable Donovan, assisted by a black boy, went in pursuit, and McKenna was found on Saturday about three miles north of Coolgardie. He was in a very exhausted condition, as he had had nothing to oat for four oy five days. He was taken to the hospi tal.

WEST AUSTRALIA. THE DEVON CONSOIS FIND. A SPLENDID SHOW OF NUGGETS. Coolgardie, Dec. 31. The magnificent show of nuggets obtained from the Devon Consols claim at Black Flag, was to day exhibited in in the window of the Commercial Bank. There were altogether six or seven nuggets on view, and in all but one instance they are beautiful pure gold. The Joker, which weighs 303oz lOdwt, is the largest nugget found in West Australia. It is a three-cornered piece with a bit out of one base. The gold is very bright. The second slug weighs 73oz 13d\vt. The collection is a beau tiful one and attracted a large crowd. The following are the weights of the different slugs : 303oz lOdwt ; 73oz 18d\vt; 51oz 16dwt: 87oz I8dwt .; lOoz loclwt : also qnartz containing about 60oz gold.